January 9th, 2006
More details on Macworld plasmas and Mac mini
On Friday I posted a story on the PowerPage about a possibility that Apple will introduce new 42 and 50-inch plasma displays at Macworld Expo tomorrow - with built-in Macs. As with anything mentioned before the start of Expo you have to consider the source.
It should also be noted that several other people were told about the stealth project too, in various pieces. Two reasonably reliable friends mentioned that Sandwich Man was indeed correct that Apple was releasing plasmas tomorrow. They confirmed the specs, prices and that the plasma Macs are based on Intel Viiv technology, going so far as offering part numbers. I'll spare you those details for now, but suffice it to say that they made a convincing case.
A few additional details have surfaced about the new monitor/TV/Macs over the weekend. Apparently the plasmas will include Front Row 2.0 which will include Apple's brand spankin' new Digital Video Recording (DVR) software. Front Row 2.0 (with DVR) will also come bundled on the new Intel-based Mac mini. Speaking of the Mac mini it reportedly won't include an iSight camera. Just how you'd build an iSight into a Mac mini is beyond me anyway. Oh, and if you're looking for horsepower you won't be disappointed that the new Mac mini will be powered by a juicy 2.8GHz dual-core Yonah processor.
I've heard different things about the bundled remote controls in Apple's new multimedia Macs. Apparently the Mac mini will ship with the same six-button remote control as the iMac G5 but the juicy new plasmas will ship with a new 12-button multimedia remote control (which it patented in April 2002) with a built-in LCD display that will give the Harmony 880 from Logitech a run for its money.
There's also some speculation that Apple's new multimedia Macs could have something to do with Apple's recent Vingle patent for "electronic transmission of streamed and downloadable audio and video files via computer and other communications networks."
I guess that we'll find out for sure tomorrow at 9am PST.
Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
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